


Monsters

by keelywolfe



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Detectives, Alternate Universe - Serial Killers, Alternate Universe - Underfell, Alternate Universe - Underswap, Dismemberment, Heavy Angst, Kidnapping, M/M, Torture, Underfell Papyrus, Underswap Papyrus, bad guy stretch
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-05
Updated: 2018-07-05
Packaged: 2019-06-05 20:38:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,135
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15178862
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/keelywolfe/pseuds/keelywolfe
Summary: A Detective AU. Edge is in over his head while he searches for a killer.





	Monsters

**Author's Note:**

> I was reminded recently that I have always found True Crime stories interesting. Obviously, this isn't true crime but it did make me think a little of Hannibal. Not nice things happen, buckle your seat belt.

* * *

Coming up from the darkness Edge could hear dripping water, his head cottony-clouded and aching. Memory faded in and out, of a sudden pain in his skull, of falling to the floor, but it was distant and wavering, almost closer to a dream.

"come on, you can wake up now."

It was a voice he knew though he'd only heard it one other time, speaking from the corner of a darkened room before vanishing, leaving Edge and the other officers alone with the bloody aftermath. Only then…and in his nightmares.

_("can't stay, love, but don't worry. i've left you a present.")_

It woke Edge up completely, like a gush of ice water down his spine. Through a narrowly opened door he could see he was still in the warehouse he'd been checking, a longshot found by crosschecking old receipts and so unlikely he hadn't even brought backup. Only instead of the main floor, his last memory before things went dark, he was in a sturdy chair in one of the decrepit offices on the second floor, ankles lashed to the legs and his hands bound behind him. Desperation left him wrenching at the cuffs until they bit into bone, marrow dampening the metal.

"eh, calm down, detective. i'm not going to kill you. i don't even want to hurt you, it's the last thing i want," amusement tainted that voice, "careful, though, it's still on the list."

Soft footsteps and as Edge watched, he came into view for the first time. 

He was unremarkable, almost a disappointment. A skeleton monster like he was but they'd known that from his letters, from his demand that Edge be assigned to his case. He was dressed in an orange hoodie and black track pants, incongruous pink fuzzy slippers on his feet. Unremarkable and unmarked, except for how many humans he'd killed. And what he'd done to them after. 

The monster hopped up onto the dilapidated desk in front of Edge, disturbing the dust. He pulled his feet up to sit cross-legged, rested his elbows on his knees, and propped his chin on his folded hands.

He cocked his head, offering Edge a little smile, "killing you wouldn't serve my purpose."

"You have me handcuffed to a chair." Edge gritted out.

"a little tied up with your work, yeah? i had to, you were too close." He reached out and traced Edge's cheekbone with a long ivory digit and he forced himself not to flinch. "i knew you would find me eventually. my columbine, my muse."

"quit babbling and kill me if you're going to," Edge snarled. No one even knew he was here, a rookie mistake. His notes would tell them but it was doubtful anyone would even think to look at them until it was much too late. Whatever this monster said was a lie; he was going to die here, the only question was how quickly Edge could convince him to get it over with.

The skeleton only tutted softly, shaking his head as if disappointed with Edge's impatience. "to begin with, there's no fun in killing monsters, is there. a snicker-snack of the vorpal blade and all you have left is dust. humans, now, they leave you something to play with."

Edge remembered the past crime scenes, the artistic gore of it, and shuddered.

"besides, whether i killed you or if i let you catch me, it would mean we can't play anymore. neither of us wants that."

"We aren't playing, you sick fuck."

"oh, we're playing the best game, my heart, my love."

"I'm not your anything." Around them the room felt too small, too hot; Edge could feel sweat trickling down his spine, his skull. 

The monster chuckled softly and shook his head. "but that's the best part, don't you see? you are and you don't even know it. you'd follow me anywhere, down to the ends of the earth, and when we sink into the arctic waters together, the only question will be which one of us is the real monster. but I suppose you think you already know the answer to that, don't you?"

"Is this where you say I made you?" Edge tried for boredom, anger was getting him less than nothing.

That earned him an honest laugh, the monster throwing back his skull and giggling to the rotting ceiling, "don't be ridiculous, i was made by something much worse than you. you're just the one who has to deal with the aftermath, you lucky thing."

He pulled out a pack of cigarettes, _(Lucky Strike, Edge knew, from butts found at the crime scenes, each left carefully and obviously)_ , and lit one with the flick of a lighter. 

"you'd rather not believe it, but i'm really not going to kill you," the monster exhaled words and smoke in one breath. "i rewarded you, didn't i? you came so close and i let you see my face, isn't that a prize worth playing for?" He breathed out another cloud of smoke, tapping a finger against his cheekbone, considering. "hmm, but i suppose you wouldn't be satisfied unless i do my part. play my role in the game, right, love?"

He crushed out the cigarette on the moldy desk blotter and hopped down, his slippers silent on the floor as he leaned in close to Edge. Close enough that Edge could see his eye lights dancing, smell the raw smokiness of his breath, and his bright grin was sweetened with insanity. Fuck. He closed his own sockets, leaning away. 

"sorry, love," he whispered, his teeth scraping the top of Edge's skull, the wet kiss of a tongue licking away his sweat. "but i did tell you it was the last thing on the list. now, which do you prefer, your right or your left hand? tick tock, choose quickly, or i'll pick for you."

"left," Edge ground out and it was the last thing Edge said to him. His screams didn't echo out past the room but he'd remember the sound of them later, the hollow ringing as he shrieked. He'd remember them along with a sweet, smoky voice offering him a choice whenever his nightmares chased him awake, drenched in sweat and that same scream clotted in his throat, choked back before it could wake his brother. 

Two days after an anonymous caller had told 911 where to find him, he'd been out of the hospital. They'd offered him a transfer, offered to take him off the case. Edge had refused. He kept his left hand in his pocket now, his missing pinkie finger hidden. Stayed at the precinct too late on too many nights, looking at evidence photos, studying them for signs and clues. Searching for his monster to the ends of the earth. 

_my columbine, my muse._

-finis-


End file.
